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Column: Am I the sum of my data?

In the past nobody ever wanted to be alone. Now no-one is. The eye of the Web (the likes of Google and Facebook) is watching us all. It tracks our most private forays on the Net, documents our quest for knowledge, the games we like to play, our various manifestations of ourselves. Curiously enough, we're still not happy. In fact we do want to be alone in our searches, requests, blogs - which is why we're claiming data protection. German constitutional judges have taken pity on us and imposed limits on "data storage". Their reasoning? Human dignity is at risk.

Just a minute. Is my dignity sitting in a data storage unit somewhere? Am I the sum of my data? And if I am, does everything I do have to be secret?

Once upon a time, the "Eye of God" kept watch on the world. It saw everything people did, thought, dreamt. Like a cosmic Big Brother from which no-one could hide. From a psychological point of view, it worked wonders. Because when no-one's looking, we quite happily get up to all sorts of shenanigans, bluffing our way through life according to the law of least resistance - until someone sees us. When others are watching, we see ourselves as others see us. And we think, 'Oh God, what am I doing?' Do I really want that? Is that really me? Ergo: only when others are watching am I true to myself, do I become Me.

So being watched is not that bad after all. Or merely knowing that everything we do can be observed. After all, search engines like Google and social networks like Facebook are not punitive deities of some kind. They just want to do business with us, not send us to hell. Consumer hell, maybe, but most people would consider that paradise.

What exactly is bad about the tracks of my online trails being visible for the world to see? Am I embarrassed about what I get up to? In the real world I couldn't give two hoots if others see which restaurant I eat at. Or where I buy my underwear. Or which films I watch. Other people don't care about that stuff either, do they? Why? Because their actions don't fit with the profile they've created for themselves? Too bad for them. In that case, the eye of the Web could help make the unlucky, divided Me somewhat more coherent. One or two fewer lies won't hurt.

Some e-mails are not public property. That goes without saying. But firstly, we can always write letters. Secondly, the regard of others often has a cathartic effect; for instance, a series of published e-mails made climate researchers realise that they are in fact scientists and not some sort of missionary clique. Thirdly, the majority of these "private spheres" are of no interest to anyone. And fourthly, we are the ones who are feeding these data storage units, so the issue of data protection is in our own hands.

Ludwig Hasler